Founded by former Microsoft Chief Technology Officer Nathan Myhrvold in 2000, the Bellevue firm has plenty of critics who believe its patent portfolio could be used as a weapon to threaten lawsuits against large corporations.

The report notes that MIT and Stanford University have refused to work with Intellectual Ventures, with Katharine Ku of Stanford telling the Journal that she is wary of the firm’s intentions.

Intellectual Ventures is considering several new offices in Asia and co-founder Edward Jung spent a year in South Korea attempting to strike partnerships with universities, according to the report. It also cites an anonymous source who says the firm, with thousands of patents in a variety of fields, had licensing revenue of several hundred million dollars last year.

More on Myhrvold from this 2004 Q&A with the P-I in which he says that Intellectual Ventures wants “to bet on crazy, new ideas that are interesting but may not have any immediate application.”